Accounting standards

A House subcommittee held hearings Wednesday in which they questioned the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s recent proposal for mandatory audit firm rotation, along with the PCAOB’s push to make disciplinary proceedings against auditors public.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has added a new item to its agenda to revise the accounting standards for repurchase agreements in response to the problems that led to the collapse of MF Global.

The International Federation of Accountants has published a paper calling for enhanced financial management transparency and accountability in the public sector, especially in the midst of the sovereign debt crisis.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has published a learning guide for the FASB Accounting Standards Codification system to help accountants learn their way around the relatively recent system for organizing U.S. GAAP standards.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has released a revised standard for compilation engagements, specially enhanced for the needs of small and midsized entities.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has proposed new financial reporting standards for state and local governments to help them account for government combinations such as mergers, acquisitions and transfers of operations, along with disposals such as sales and transfers of government operations.

Grant Thornton has released a new paper calling for an overhaul in the current thinking of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board on lease accounting standards, instead advocating the use of two different lease accounting models.

International Accounting Standards Board chairman Hans Hoogervorst told attendees at a financial conference in Mexico City that the board plans to give accountants a period of relative stability to give them time to adjust to all the new standards.

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants has released for public exposure proposed changes to the definition of “engagement team” in the IESBA Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are not seeing eye to eye on an important component of their leasing standards project involving income statement changes for lessees.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules aimed at safeguarding investors from identity theft by requiring broker-dealers, mutual funds and other SEC-regulated entities create programs to detect and respond to “red flags” indicating possible identity theft.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board voted Tuesday to issue for public comment a proposed auditing standard on related-party transactions, and to amend standards on significant unusual transactions and auditors of broker-dealers.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are planning to host a series of outreach meetings around the world on their latest proposals for changes in the standards for revenue recognition.

Members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board held a two-day meeting this week with officials from the Accounting Standards Board of Japan how they could better align accounting rules.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board said Friday they would work together on seeking to reduce the differences in their classification and measurement models for financial instruments.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed an updated standard on impairment testing of intangible assets with indefinite lives, such as trademarks, licenses and distribution lives.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and the American Institute of CPAs have both given their final approval to a revised set of standards for providers of continuing professional education programs for accountants.

Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said in a new report that it expects the U.S. will still move forward with plans to incorporate International Financial Reporting Standards into U.S. GAAP, but in a “prolonged, cautious and incremental way.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released its latest review of interactive data financial statement submissions and found that filers are making progress.

Pace University’s Lubin School of Business and the Association of International Bank Auditors have teamed up to offer a Certified Compliance and Regulatory Professional (CCRP) certificate program for professionals working in the global financial services industry.